Coit Group Fine Homes

Average rate on 30-year mortgage at 4.22%   Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages declined this week after two weeks of increases, keeping home buying affordable. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan fell to 4.22 percent from to 4.35 percent last week. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage dipped to 3.27 percent from 3.35 percent. Rates had spiked over the summer and reached a two-year high in July on speculation that the Federal Reserve would slow its bond purchases later this year. But the Fed held off in September and now appears poised to wait at least a few more months to see how the economy performs. The bond purchases are intended to keep long-term interest rates low. Mortgage rates tend to follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. They have stabilized since September and remain low by historical standards. Still, mortgage rates are nearly a full percentage point higher than in the spring. The uptick has contrib

NEW YORK – Nov. 18, 2013 – Bidding wars in recent months have fueled large gains in home values in some parts of the country. But bidding wars and the buying frenzy seen just a few months ago seem to be cooling at a time when housing affordability has been reduced due to higher mortgage rates and home prices. “The bidding wars were creating a false market,” homebuyer Mike Imgarten told Bloomberg about his two-month house hunt in Sacramento, Calif., area. “Now is a good time to jump back in and see where we’re at.” Inventories have risen in many markets, leaving homebuyers with more options. The National Association of Realtors® reported that inventory levels of unsold homes rose in September from a year earlier – the first time since 2011. More homeowners are seeing the return of equity (more than 2.5 million homes saw positive equity return in the second quarter alone), which has prompted more people to list their properties. “We are shifting from a frenzy to where buyers are taki